I'm so frustrated with TAG regular colors and I had the same trouble with the other "China" paints like Wolfe and Dfx and even the pearls don't blend over the top of each other very well and I have a hard time moving them around on the face. I tried using them for body painting and although the pearls were better, I couldn't blend one color into another without getting lap marks.

I'm thinking of buying a Paradise pallet so that I can blend colors and get that Mark Reid look. I've never tried Paradise except when I got to try someone's Fluer one-stroke pallet but I've never used them as regular face paints or had the opportunity to test drive them myself.

Not to start an argument about which is better (because I actually like TAG for a LOT of things) but can Paradise users possibly describe to me the difference in using them? Do they dry like TAG and Wolfe? Can you touch them once they are dry like you can TAG? Is there a longer open time where you can move the paint around? Do they apply thinner? Like can you almost stain with them instead of having to get opaque coverage? One of the things I'm frustrated with is when I load a sponge with TAG it almost dries so fast that I can't even get a whole butterfly out of one load or shape the edges with the tip of the sponge because the original stamp is dry and can't be moved....am I making ANY sense???? I overload the sponge trying to get enough to created a whole butterfly and it makes this big thick wing on the first eye, the second eye is okay with fringy edges and then I start on the bottom wing and it's all patchy now. If I try to add more water, it will be a goopy mess!

I'm so mad at myself for not trying someone's Paradise kit while I was there at FABAC in Vegas. I want to get some paradise in my hands but I also don't want to spend $120 dollars and hate the stuff. Sigh.

What would I do without my one-strokes? Do some of you use a combination of both brands and love that? I love the TAG metallics for brushing but I'm having similar lapping problems when I try to sponge.

Who am I, where am going, what do I do! (I'm such a dork!)

D.

Here's my attempt at a Mark Reid butterfly. It's thick and cartoonish. The colors are pretty but I want that sheer coverage I see in his designs.

Here's his...look at the blending...I know his brushwork is amazing...I want that sheer look.

Last edited by Denise Cold on Mon Jun 04, 2012 12:34 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Add photo)

Denise I think yours is beautiful and very vibrant..I love mark reids too. I hear alot of people like paridise and that it blends well...and Ive been thinking about changing over myself...i mostly use DFX and you have to really work faster...but I love my black and white...I like the tag rainbow cakes and they seam to blend well..I only have paridise in red, black, and white,, so i have nothing to compare..I look forward to seeing what people post about this...

DID he blend, or did he just use different colours in different places? I see a line where the white near the eyes meets the next colour...?).It looks like he used different colours in different places and there's a coloured glitter on top to make it appear to be another colour there. I could be totally bonkers (Actually, it's been confirmed), so what do I know?

I'll be watching this post too, as I have some of the same issues as you describe, Denise. Clearly I don't work fast enough.

I have mostly Tag, with a lot of Wolfe, and some Paradise. But the Paradise is pretty new to me and I haven't used it enough to help you here.

So, you are finding that you aren't getting what you want with regards to sheer coverage and blending with the Lumieres?

BTW, I love your butterfly. I love the vibrancy, but understand there are times for a more sheer look.

I guess what I like is similar to what I get with the Lumieres...that 3-D look of faded softer colors in the back and vibrant line work over the top...like a Bambi. Or stained glass. You should see Mark's rainbow butterfly in real life...OMG! It looked like it was literally embedded into her face like that jewelry that has embedded enamel. I'll attach a picture. The second picture is in my inspiration file.

I haven't really tried butterflies with the Ben Nye, maybe I should 1HappyNut. I know Marcela does. I think it's that cheap thing again...I keep thinking I need to save my Ben Nye because they are so expensive (but not much more than paint...it's just the perception)...and I'm worried about speed but I honestly haven't tried it. Going to now.

Last edited by Denise Cold on Mon Jun 04, 2012 2:20 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : fix pic)

I think they dry faster than my china paint. It also requires more water to get them moving. They are very soft and creamy and just don't work for me....

I have trrrrrrrrrrrried.

It is definitely a learning curve for me, I have a few of those colors that I had in the past. I loved the dark pink (just because of the color) and now that TAG makes a dark pink I find myself going to that one while working instead of the paradise one.

I would purchase one color of it... play around with it... and then make up your mind on this... it is a totally different ball of wax

Maybe this is the silliest idea but I wanted to throw it out there- maybe we could do some sort of paradise sampler coop? Every one pitch in some $ for like a paradise pallet (and maybe something to repot like a jewelry tray), one person gets it all and repots and ships the samplers out. Make sense? I've been part of a number of coops, so that's why I thought of it. I too am interested in trying paradise. And I guess I'd be willing to head the coop since I suggested it.

Denise, I like your colors better than his.This is the same idea butterfly, is all tag pearl, and no glitter.[img][/img]Personally I don't like paradise, I have the pastel palette and get so frustrated when I use it.I am not good at all at one stroke, so I use them for sponging, and I think they blend really nice.[img][/img]

Denise, I read you have a coastal scents shimmery palette, when I didn't have metallics I use them on top of my regular wolfe paints, and I swear they looked like Marcelas' why you don't try that?

Okay, I've got to go for a bit but I made a Lumiere butterfly. It actually looks pretty good in person. I didn't do a great job on the line work. I cleaned up the butterfly I did that I could use on the job, that's the second picture.

Luz, I don't mind the colors...it's the texture and thickness of it but at least the glitter sticks!

Denise, those are both very pretty!! So, they're both with Lumiere? (your latest two). I see what you mean about the sheer. The first one is my favorite, not sure if it's because it's vibrant but still sheer, or the fact that I like the colour combo slightly better or both! And yes, I see now what you mean in those other pictures about the beautiful blending.

@ Sweethavenarts, I would be interested in that shared co-op. I love the stuff I have in my kit but I have heard how Paradise is good for bases and blending so I'd love to give more colours a try. That would be a great way to try many colours out but with less overall cost. Let me know if you get a lot more interest (so it's not just two of us) and whether you eventually go ahead.

A co-op....ahhhhhh hahhhhh. When she said "coop" I was thinking first, chicken coop (does she want us to try Paradise is a chicken coop?!) and then I thought it was supposed to be "coup" - like we were going to try to take over the face painting world with little Paradise palettes...

Denise, I always appreciate your questions and answers to so many...and I am not an expert by no means, but maybe the pearl white of tag would help. Its sooo pretty and shimmery. and seems to blend well with the other pearls, or is it too opaque for what your looking for?

Paradise feels different to me then any other brand and i love it for blending. I also get great blending with snaz but it isn't as vibrant as paradise, or as creamy. I just bought 12 new tag colors, and after being used to snaz for bases I am going to order more paradise. It dries so nicely to more of a powder feel to the touch, it feels much lighter on the skin to me. I think one of the 8 color palettes will be enough with all the other paints we keep in our kits.

Sorry for the confusion on the butterflies. The first one is the Lumiere pallet and the second is just my TAG Fairy Garden type cake I made myself (I just took out the spike crown from the center of my attempt at the Mark Reid design.). I was surprised how bright the Lumiere one is, I'm used to using a rainbow cake so I need to get used to blending but it wasn't bad. I just thought of something...I just bought some Mehron sealer. Couldn't you use that over a Lumiere design and THEN add glitter? I'll have to look at the label and see if it's okay for the eye area.

Using white as a base and blending is what Christina Davison likes to do. White and yellow are good inside eye colors. I do have pearl white and Wolfe white next to each other in a cake and I mix them together for muzzles and eyes on painted tigers, especially when I make metallic tigers. I've also done it for a kitty and like that it was a little more shiny and sheer.

Thanks eva, Maybe I'll buy one of those pallets to try. The one with the girly colors in it.

I love my paradise white for bases, I find it really easy to blend into everything else, but I also love tag pearl white to blend out my butterflies, and don't have trouble getting the pearls to blend. I love using the prismas too, they are very soft and have such a nice blend, but they do take a lot of water and work to get the hang of them. In low humidty, I have more troubel getting enough on the sponge, but they go a long, long way for me.

I have been using primarily Paradise for about 6 months now with Wolfe or DFX white/black for line work. It is VERY creamy and does take A LOT of water to get it moving (like others have said). It does blend well because it doesn't dry as fast as some of the others, but that may be because of the added H2O needed? Anyway, now that I've tried TAG (about a month ago was my first time), I'm kind of in love with TAG over Paradise (much to hubby's frustration). I feel like because the Paradise takes so much water, it goes on thicker and so I go through it faster. I almost completely wore through my white after only a small handful of events! So, I do like paradise over snaz (because snaz takes even MORE water to activate and dries SO fast for me), but I'm starting to really love TAG and am not sure if I prefer it or Paradise at the moment!

I never understand why people take sides of brands facepainting.mabye it loyalty, mabye it is what works for you? I now use about 50/50 Tag and paradise.(mabye 48/48) I technically go through more paradise but that is as I used it for bases which is going to consume more paint. (except spiderman as tag red is awesome,)

my expierience.

Paradise stays moist longer it dose not dry as easy/quickly as Tag which allows it to blend great and stick glitter on well but I find I am more prone to leave a finger marks on a client with paradise. it is different it requires more water. paradise can also be used almost dry th get a different look again. the amount of water you add will change the way you use it.

Tag is vibrant and really pops on a brush it goes further as in linework due to its consistancy bieng more watery than creamy i guess - I can get a longer line with a tag paint its a vivid colour. and smudges less. you can easily stick say a yellow dot over black. That is a cool quality that you can't really do with paradise and even if you do get it to happen with paradise the darker paint will consume it rapidly (due to the blendability paradise it kind of sucks it in)

I honestly think trying to blend tag and paradise together dose not work that well, it takes away from paradises in it blendability and the ease of it. If you ever try paradise get three colours that will work (and you will use up) and try them and that is when you will see the easy blend. that is not to say that you can't blend the two but it is a bit of a pain and I don't think in person honestly looks as good. (If I was to blend it with another brand it would be snaz or Kryolan before Tag) It is I guess the same as sticking Tag and a prisma cake on a brush to judge tag one strokes. as again being honest the tag one strokes just look better.

Paradise and Tag both have different looks, different qualitys. you can get awesome results with both. just play to there strengths.

I have tried a couple of the Paradise colors and may wind up getting the 30 color sampler palette but I am really on the fence about it. To me the Paradise "work" great BUT the pop just isn't there compared to some of the other brands. They seem more matte to me. I can get an awesome base with the Paradise white though. Maybe I just haven't used them enough.

Martha you are right the paradise is more of a matte look. but it is a kind of soft matte look diffrent to a tag matte look which is vivid. the matte look in itself looks pretty though. but it is a matte look throughout the colours - I dont have foxy an oversight at the time but suspect much the same matte look but got all the others only 3 metalics though.

Last edited by elantaura on Tue Jun 05, 2012 12:34 am; edited 2 times in total